As an aging basketball player, I've promised myself there's one thing I would never inflict on others: the musings of an aging basketball player.I think every guy who can scribble slightly better than he dribbles has felt compelled to share the same old tale. You know, graying but still valiant warrior playing through his nagging aches and pains for the sheer love of the game, yadda, yadda, yadda.I can't say I haven't been tempted to do it. But now all of us have been absolved of ever having to consider it again.

HOUSTON -- Convincing many of the NBA's elite All-Stars to participate in the league's marquee promotional event hasn't been, well, a slam-dunk the last few years. While guys like Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan and Julius Erving once spiced up All-Star weekend, this year's dunk masters included defending champion Josh Smith along with Nate Robinson, Andre Iguodala and Hakim Warrick. The New York Knicks' 5-foot-9 Robinson prevailed over the Philadelphia 76ers' Iguodala. His signature dunk was a leap over 5-7 Spud Webb, the 1986 dunk champ.

Good morning--Cubs -- OK, the ball's in your court now. Unless you want to wait until 2008 to make it an even 100 years. Question of the day Does Sheryl Swoopes' "coming out" affect your view of the WNBA? Who's Sheryl Swoopes, and what's the WNBA? Dave Denison Westminster Online Sun exclusives Hensley on the Ravens See video of Sun beat reporter Jamison Hensley on the Ravens. Go to www.baltimoresun.com/hensleyvideo Murray on the NFL Hear audio of Sun NFL reporter Ken Murray analyzing this week's games.

Good morning--Cubs -- OK, the ball's in your court now. Unless you want to wait until 2008 to make it an even 100 years. Question of the day Does Sheryl Swoopes' "coming out" affect your view of the WNBA? Who's Sheryl Swoopes, and what's the WNBA? Dave Denison Westminster Online Sun exclusives Hensley on the Ravens See video of Sun beat reporter Jamison Hensley on the Ravens. Go to www.baltimoresun.com/hensleyvideo Murray on the NFL Hear audio of Sun NFL reporter Ken Murray analyzing this week's games.

The good news for women's basketball this week is that Sheryl Swoopes, who carried Texas Tech to a national championship last year and propelled the sport to higher visibility, will be in Richmond, Va., for this year's Final Four.The bad news for women's basketball, and by extension, CBS, which will carry Saturday's semifinals and Sunday's championship game, is that Swoopes, who graduated last year, will only be signing autographs.For the women's game, which has neither the tradition nor the following of the men's tournament, a highly visible player -- such as Swoopes or former Southern California great Cheryl Miller -- or a dominant team, like traditional power Tennessee, is easy to sell to a national viewing audience.

UMBC Coach: Jennifer Bednarek, third season at UMBC (29-54). Affiliation: Northeast Conference. 1999-2000 record: 7-21 (4-14 in NEC). Radio: WMBC (560 AM). Arena: Retriever Activities Center Arena (4,000). Consensus Northeast favorite: St. Francis, Pa. Consensus UMBC prediction: Ninth. Starters lost: Two. Outlook: Using several freshmen, the Retrievers lost eight games by five points or fewer last season. They won't be much more experienced, as Bednarek looks to blend in five freshmen, including forward Danielle Heffel, who will start.

ATLANTA -- Sheryl Swoopes got to make her mark on women's college basketball for only a brief period, but while it lasted, it was beautiful.Yesterday, Swoopes led No. 5 Texas Tech to a national championship, as it beat third-ranked Ohio State, 84-82, in front of 16,141 at The Omni.Swoopes scored 47 points, a record for an NCAA championship game -- men's or women's -- and put on perhaps the most electrifying performance in the 12-year history of the women's tournament."At a point in the game, I just felt I wanted to take control," said Swoopes, a 6-foot senior forward from Brownfield, Texas.

Iowa. Ohio State. Texas Tech. Vanderbilt.Each team is in its first Final Four, and each is looking to have the last word in front of a sellout crowd of 16,510 at The Omni in Atlanta in Sunday's 4 p.m. championship game.Ohio State and Iowa are the first Big Ten schools to make it to the Final Four. They will face each other at 3 p.m. Saturday for the third time this season. The teams split during the regular season, with Ohio State winning the last meeting, 72-60."It assures there will be a Big Ten team playing for the national championship," Ohio State coach Nancy Darsch said.

UMBC Coach: Jennifer Bednarek, third season at UMBC (29-54). Affiliation: Northeast Conference. 1999-2000 record: 7-21 (4-14 in NEC). Radio: WMBC (560 AM). Arena: Retriever Activities Center Arena (4,000). Consensus Northeast favorite: St. Francis, Pa. Consensus UMBC prediction: Ninth. Starters lost: Two. Outlook: Using several freshmen, the Retrievers lost eight games by five points or fewer last season. They won't be much more experienced, as Bednarek looks to blend in five freshmen, including forward Danielle Heffel, who will start.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- If the 11th-ranked Texas Tech women's basketball team is harboring any anxiety about facing No. 2 Tennessee in tonight's Mideast Regional title game, it certainly is doing a good job of masking it. The Lady Raiders did the tourist thing here yesterday before practicing for tonight's showdown (ESPN, 9), hitting Graceland and a popular doughnut chain store, then facing the media with an air of confidence and anticipation. After all, Texas Tech (28-4) has played the spoiler role all year, sharing the Big 12 regular-season title after being picked fifth in the league in the preseason.

As an aging basketball player, I've promised myself there's one thing I would never inflict on others: the musings of an aging basketball player.I think every guy who can scribble slightly better than he dribbles has felt compelled to share the same old tale. You know, graying but still valiant warrior playing through his nagging aches and pains for the sheer love of the game, yadda, yadda, yadda.I can't say I haven't been tempted to do it. But now all of us have been absolved of ever having to consider it again.

The core of what is likely to become the United States' entry in the 1996 Olympic women's basketball tournament was selected yesterday as a yearlong effort to boost the sport's image in this country officially began.Eleven of the best women's players in the country -- including the past four consensus national players of the year -- were chosen after a week of tryouts in Colorado Springs, Colo.Toward the goal of winning the gold medal in next summer's Games in Atlanta, USA Basketball, the governing body of this country's international efforts, is following the example of some European and Asian nations by creating a national team that will train and tour together for a year.

ATLANTA -- Down in the West Texas town of Lubbock, the folks talk about suffering from "Swoopla."That's not the disease of the week from some television movie, but a malady caused by repeated exposures to Texas Tech forward Sheryl Swoopes.Yesterday, the No. 1 Vanderbilt Commodores caught a severe case of "Swoopla" and were bounced from the NCAA women's Final Four by the fifth-ranked Red Raiders, 60-46.Swoopes, the National Player of the Year, scored 31 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and made life generally unpleasant for the Commodores.